Exhortation-English - 2012

Over the years, I have noticed that some Christians disregard the Watchnight service. I guess their question would be, “Why should there be such a late night service?”

As your pastor, it is my duty to tell you why our church has such a service. Though I can cite that Christians traditionally hold such services everywhere to give thanks to God for all His goodness in the passing year...

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11)

This was the divine message made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem by the angels. This angelic declaration reveals the true message of Christmas. It is most fitting that we meditate on this message as we prepare to worship our Saviour who was born for our salvation.

“For unto you is born”: The conception and birth of Jesus Christ was a miracle. Mary, the virgin, conceived Him as the Holy Spirit overshadowed her (Matthew 1:20- 23). The eternal Son of God took on human flesh and was born to be our substitute, to bear the wrath of God against our sin. He was not born for holy angels but for poor men who are in the bondage of sin...

I am thankful to the Lord for enabling me to attend our year-end church camp this year after missing out on it for the past 10 years due to National Service, studies and work commitments and also for allowing me the opportunity to re-experience the spiritual fellowship in the Word and with the brethren. For a working adult, the church camp was a break from my daily work routine, a time of both spiritual and physical rest

Christian fellowship is one of the greatest blessings that will emerge from knowing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour of our life. There is nothing like it on earth as far as close and affectionate relationships are concerned. We all enter into relationships whether by affinity or consanguinity, but when such relationships are not based on Jesus Christ and His truth, they tend to have great problems. Only the fellowship that comes out of the gospel of salvation carries a very special blessing.

Christian fellowship is filled with the splendour of heavenly realities and experiences. In a sense, it is really an “out-of-theearth” experience reserved by God only for His children. It is a God-given and God-sustained fellowship designed to prepare believers for the fuller heavenly joys that await them beyond this life on earth.

<This year’s church camp begins tomorrow. We thank God for 164 campers who will be joining the camp held in Hotel Equitorial, Bangi, Malaysia. Most will be travelling by the four coaches booked by the camp committee, and others in their cars.

Among the participants are brethren from our sister churches. Let us welcome them heartily and extend our hands of fellowship with joy.

Let us pray for our camp speaker, Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo (Pastor of True Life BPC & Principal of FEBC), and the children’s speakers, Ho Xiao Wei, Tammy Ho and Choong Yi Jie. Remember also to pray for our own preachers who will be expounding the Word during the devotions, the Chinese Service meetings and night meetings...

The Apostle Peter in his first epistle exhorts all Christians, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” (1 Peter 3:15). Christians are urged to render their full devotion to the Lord. The word “sanctify” (in Greek, hagiazo) depicts the act of separating from all profane things and dedicating solely to God. Not to wholly dedicate to the Lord can mean desecrating the holiness of the Lord who indwells His children.

Only a whole-hearted dedication befits the Lord. A half-hearted devotion would mean one is trying to have two masters...

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) were the words of Jesus to Andrew and Simon. These words of Jesus are full of promise and motivation. None who reads them should fail to observe the prospects they offer. These words of Jesus are gracious, potent and transforming! They are for our joyful contemplation and obedience.

The call of Christ: “Follow Me”

A gracious invitation Firstly, we notice that herein is a warm invitation from our gracious Lord. He gently beckons us...

This will be my second Lord’s Day being absent from the church. In this regard, I am very miserable. Though I join you in worship through the live webcast, there is nothing like being in the midst of His people to worship our wonderful God. “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand” (Psalm 84:10). “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God” (Psalm 84:1–3).

I give thanks to God for all your prayers for me, and I am sure that the Lord will answer us and heal me of my infirmities. While I was recuperating from my jaw and periodontal surgery...

When Gethsemane Men’s Fellowship meet together on 10th November (this coming Saturday) in the TGCM premises, the focus of the meeting will be “Praying Men”. GMF’s goal is to equip men in our church to be faithful men of God. We need faithful men because God has called men to be leaders both in our homes (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23) and in the church (1 Timothy 2:12, 13). Unfaithful men will bring unimaginable hurt to their family and the church. When men become unfaithful to God, they become bad spiritual leaders. Their unfaithfulness will wreck their spiritual and moral authority to lead those under their care. Bad leadership inevitably leads to serious consequences, for without faithful men, our homes and our church will suffer severe spiritual and moral degeneration...

As the apostle John explains in 1 John 2:15-17, worldliness is not only unprofitable but also detrimental to Christian life. In last Sunday’s bulletin, we considered the first spiritual danger of worldliness, namely “it excludes the love of the Father”. Today, we shall consider the second spiritual danger mentioned by the apostle John.

Worldliness embraces temporal at the expense of eternal

John forewarns, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (v. 17)...

Worldliness gives rise to severe spiritual dangers, which no Christian should consider trivial. Three specific spiritual dangers are mentioned by the apostle in 1 John 2:15-17.

Worldliness excludes the love of the Father

John said, “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (v. 15b). In other words, no one can love the world and God at the same time. Love for the world is a hindrance to genuine devotion to God. While love for the world pushes out love for God...

Christians are strongly warned against worldliness in the Scriptures. 1 John 2:15-17 is one of the passages that cautions them not to be lovers of the world – “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”...

In his first epistle, the apostle Peter exhorted the believers to “hope to the end”. He wrote, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). Here, Peter mentions three duties of every true Christian. It is interesting to note that in the Greek text, only the last verb is an imperative or command; the first two verbs are participles...

Today after the worship, at 1.30pm, all the communicant members of the church are urged to come together for the Annual Congregational Meeting. It is a meeting where we evaluate our church’s ministry, accounts, plans, etc.

Just as in all our meetings, during ACM also, let us conduct ourselves in an orderly and honourable manner that is worthy of our calling in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us pray for the office-bearers of our church who will be giving reports of the church ministries and accounts...

50 years of training men for the ministry

On September 17th, 1962, the Lord established FEBC through His servant, Rev Dr Timothy Tow, who was also the founding pastor of Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore. Why was FEBC founded? The answer comes from Rev Tow, “The aim of Far Eastern Bible College is to train a new generation of pastors, teachers, missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ in the Far East” (The Burning Bush, Vol. 1, No. 2). But God has widened FEBC’s horizon to take in students from Africa, Australia, India, China, Canada, etc.

FEBC has been instrumental in passing on the truth of God’s Word from one generation to the other that the church may be furnished with a generation of faithful and fervent pastors and preachers for the nurture of believers in the church...

INTRODUCTION

DChristians are overcomers because they follow Christ, the Great Overcomer. As soldiers of His kingdom, we are called to be overcomers by the power and wisdom of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Word of God affirms that Christ is greater than the prince of this world, Satan, and because He dwells in believers, they have become overcomers of Satan’s army in this world. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Likewise, in 1 John 5:4- 5, we read, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

In chapter 8 of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a lady who gives wise counsel to those who seek her. In verse 13, she lists those things which she hates, and one of them is pride. The Hebrew word for “hate” expresses a strong feeling of revulsion that is determined to exterminate. Why does wisdom chase away pride? To understand the reason for wisdom’s hatred for pride, we will pursue wisdom’s perspective and handling of pride.

Wisdom views pride as evil

In the list of evils mentioned in Proverbs 8:13, the first is “pride”. A study of various Hebrew words, translated as “pride” in the book of Proverbs, provides us with the following understanding of pride...

We live in a society that renounces meekness as weakness and pronounces might as right. This society is very likely to laugh at Jesus who said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). There is an old joke to revise the saying, “The meek will inherit the earth – if that’s okay with the rest of you.” This joke came about as a result of the general belief that meekness is weakness and the weak will always be dispossessed by the strong.

We should not doubt the veracity of the Lord’s saying because it is belittled by the world. We must believe and practise the sayings of our Lord to be truly blessed. As Christians, we should not allow ourselves to be shaped by what everyone else thinks in this world. We are to be moulded by the truth that Jesus teaches us. He wants us to understand the true strengths and blessedness of life...

Those were the words of God’s prophet, Jeremiah, as he bemoaned the spiritual apathy and moral decadence of the worshippers in the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. He said, “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward” (Jeremiah 7:24).

God’s people are always expected to go forward in their spiritual and moral pursuit. There is no stopping, and certainly no turning back. Onward, forward, O Christian! It is no commendation if it is said of any of you that you have gone backward and not forward. So covet the praise that you have moved forward in the ways of the Lord. Do not assume that you have progressed spiritually but be sure that it is the case...

Desiring for moral uprightness hardly seems to be the norm these days. Even in churches, there is so much apathy towards insisting and promoting the righteousness of God. People everywhere reject God’s Word as the standard of righteousness. Whatever pleases the hearts of men is considered to be the right thing to do. The prevailing philosophy of what is right is - “It is right when it feels good.” The world, even many Christians, would rather have the “Ten Commandments” as just “Ten Proposals!” They just do not want to walk in obedience to God’s holy law...

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep...

seniors from Gethsemane BPC had been waiting for with much excitement. It was a day trip to Malaysia (Yong Peng) for a time of relaxation and fellowship. The day began, by God’s amazing grace, with a beautiful weather . God also brought us safely to the Eunos carpark to board the coach to Malaysia. We could not help but remember what the Scriptures say in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you...

Christians must rejoice being in the presence of God, praying and worshipping Him. To a great many people, prayer is an activity that they engage in when they are perplexed. It is not just ‘running to God for help’. Though it is important that we call on God in our troubles, the act of prayer is more than seeking His help to relieve us of our troubles.

I have heard some saying that “I don’t have anything to pray for. So I don’t pray regularly”. Prayer is not just uttering a few items of needs that we have...

9th Anniversary of the Chinese Service

Today, we give thanks to God for the 9th anniversary of our Chinese service. The Lord has been pleased to bless our efforts to preach the Gospel to our Chinese-speaking relatives and friends, and to gather them to worship the Lord.

Since 2009, in conjunction with the anniversary of the Chinese service, we have been conducting a Chinese Bible Conference every year. We thank God that many believers from our sister churches also came to hear the Word. We had the fourth conference yesterday, Rev Lee Kim Shong...

Two weeks ago, I made a hurried journey to Cebu, the Philippines, to preach in the combined anniversary service of our mission churches and GBI. About 200 adults and children from our four mission churches (Cebu, Bohol, Bogo and San Antonio) gathered in Cebu with grateful hearts. Four choirs from various churches, including a children’s choir, sang praises to God. There were also baptisms and transfer of membership, bearing a glorious testimony to the power of the Gospel. A video message from Preacher Dominino (who was in Singapore for medical treatment) was played during the service; and many were teary as they listened to his exhortation and prayed for him...